Checkrow planter



June 9, 1925 1,540,865

A. C. SALMONS CHECKROW PLANTER Filed May 9, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 w 1.6: Jazilza qgm mf June 9, 1925.

A. C. QALMONS CHECKRCW PLANTER Fila M33] 9, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lit Patented .lnne 9, 1925.

UNITED 3 STATES PATENT ALVA seminars, or eossr, messes:

cnsonnow :enen'rnn a lication med May 9,-

i the planter, for successively elevating and releasing the markers, additional 1 means being employed for forcing; the released nun-hers into contact with the gronnt A further object is to provide means whereby the A marking attnclhnent can be easily set at the beginning of'each row. i

A further object is to providela marking mechanism which is simple, din-able and compact and can beinstalled readilyon a planter of ordinary construction.

\Vith the: "foregoing and OflltPObjBUfS in View which will appear: as thddescription:

proceeds, the'inrention resides in the combination and arrz'nigement of partsrand m the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that; within the scope of whatis clainiethtrihanges in the precise embodiment of the invention shown can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form shown.

In said drawings- Figure 1 is'a plan View of a planter having the present improvements "combined therewith. I

F igure 2 is a longitudinal"section on the line 2-2, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3, Figure 2.

Referring to the figures by characters of or th invention has" been y on the frame 1. T he other arm of the cell 1922. 7 Serial no. 5553,5223.

into the hoppers 42 frame 1 and has securedto it ii-sprocket 8 receiving motion througlra chain Q-froni,

a sprocket 10 secured to the aXleQ. This chain is preferably provided within tight ener in the form of an idlerroller 11 hearing downwardly on the chain and-journaled within an arm 12 mounted'to swing freely on a transverse shaftlil.

Jonri'ialed within the front {portion of the frame 1 is a transversely extei' -ding rock shaft 1% which projects laterally beyond the sides of the frame andterln'inates in down-- wardly and renrwardly extendingarms- 1 5. The rear portion of each arm is-rpleferably disposed at an angle to the front port-ion thereof as shown particularly iIr'FigureQ and snda-bly mounted in the free end of each arnrlo is a stem ltl" havingafoot -17 at its lower end A spring 18 mounted on the stem and bears againstthe-foot so as to hold said foot normally pressed ma from the arm 15. It will beuinlerstood; however, that when the arm'lo swung downwardly by the rotation ofshaft '14; in

one direction the foot 17 will; be forced into contact with the surfac of the ground so as to form a ClGPE'BSSlOD therein and atthis time "the spring 18'w1ll yield so as toact as ,a

cushion and prevent breakage of uny of the parts.

For the pivoted one end of a rod 20.; This rodis extended rearwardly and attached to one arm of a bell crank 21 fulcrumed as at 22 tongue 25 having an intermediate depression or recess 26 in the lower face thereof while the fre end of the tongue is preferably upturned as shown at L7. A spring 28, connecting arm 24 to the frame 1, serves to hold the arm normally swung forwardly and the arms normally raised with the feet 17 out of contact-with the ground.

An actuating finger 29 is mounted to swing on the shaft 7 and its free end normally contacts with the tongue so as to support it. To this linger is pivotally at orsics L and t *ansver'sely of the purpose of operating the shaft lt by the action of the driver, there isprovided' on said shaft. an arm 19 :to which tached one end of a rod 30 extending rearwardly within the frame 1 and attached to the rear portion of the frame preferably by means of a coiled spring 31. This rod extends over a cam 32 mounted on the axle 2 and formed with preferably three radial shoulders 33 each of which is adapted successively to engage a shoulder 34 formed by offsetting an intermediate portion of the rod 30. Cam 32 has dogs 35 pivotally mounted therein as shown in Figures 2 and 3, these dogs being held by springs 36 normally in engagement with theaxle 2 so that when the axle isrotating during the forward movement of the machine it will, through frictional engagement with the dogs, cause the cam 32 to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction when viewed as in Figure 2. Thus during the rotation of the axle the cam will be moved therewith and the shoulders 33 brought successively against shoulder 34. Each shoulder 33 will thus shift the rod 30 forwardl Y a ainst the action of sprin 21- b J. b

and will cause the finger 29'to swing under tongue 27 and finally become seated within the depression 26. Immediately subsequent to this action the shoulder 33 will move past and out of engagement with the shoulder 34 and the tensioned spring 31 will promptly pull rod 30 rearwardly. This will cause the finger 29 to swing rearwardly and to pull tongue 25 therewith. Accordingly shaft 14 will be rotated and the marking feet will be thrust against the surface of the soil. This action will only be momentary, however, be-- cause immediately thereafter the next shoulder 33 will engage shoulder 34 and thrust the rod 30 forwardly so that finger 29 will move under and lift the tongue 25 and again become seated in the depression 26. Obviously as soon as the finger 26 is swung rearwardly a predetermined distance'it passes out of the depression 26 and the spring 28, which is much lighter than spring 31, will swing the arm 24 and rotate the shaft 14 back to their normal positions. v

From the foregoing description it will be obvious that as the machine travels over a field the markers will be automatically set and released so as to mark the field at regular intervals, the rows of marks thus pro duced indicating the rows along which the seeds have been planted. The dropping of the seed is efiected by the action of the shaft 7 which operates in properly timed relation with the marking mechanism.

'VVhen the machine reaches the end of a field and is turned around so as to start back over the field it is necessary to reset the marking mechanism so that the new series of marks will be in line with the marks already made. This is done by means of a chain 37 mounted on a sprocket 38 which is secured to and rotates with the cam 32. This chain is also mounted on another sprocket 39 carried by the shaft 13. Later ally extending pins 30 are carried by the chain 37 and the operator by thrusting against one or more of these pins can actuate the chain so as to rotate cam 32 until one of the shoulders 33 is brought against the shoulder 34 at such a time as to cause actuation of the marker at the point desired. The dogs 35 permit clockwise rotation of the eam 32 independently of the axle 2 during the adjustment of the cam to get the neces-= sary relationship between the shoulders 33 and 34.

lVhat is claimed is In a planter, the combination with a rock shaft, an arm extending therefrom, a spring for holding the armnormally in one extreme position, and a tongue pivotally connected to the arm and having an intermediatereoess, of a seed dropping mechanism including a shaft, a finger secured to and rotatable with said shaft and normally engaging the tongue, a rod pivotally connected to the finger and having an intermediate shoulder, a spring connected to the rod for holdings-it normally in one extreme position, a rotatable wheel supported axle, means revoluble therewith for intermittently engaging the shoulder to intermittently shift the rod and finger in one direction against the action of the spring to position the finger in the recess, thereby coupling the tongue to the rod during the movement of the rod to normal position when released from theactuating means. a

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALVA c. SALMONS.

lVitnesses:

P. E. NEWBURN,

MAUDIE B MAnnook. 

